


Scars and SCARL3TT

by MaxBetta



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV), Ready Player One - Ernest Cline
Genre: F/M, First Dates, First Meetings, ready player one au, sansan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-06-11 22:58:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15326268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaxBetta/pseuds/MaxBetta
Summary: Sandor and Sansa meet in the virtual world of OASIS and then decide to meet in real life, but will they meet one another's expectations?





	1. Chapter 1

As Sandor stood with his hands in his pockets, waiting at the bus stop in front of the convention center, rocking nervously back and forth on the balls of his feet, he thought once again that this may have all been a mistake. What if she’s a man?  What if she’s older than she said, or married, or both? What if she takes one look at him and runs away screaming? As the bus he was waiting for finally pulled up to the stop, he reflected on how it all began.

 

He had just gotten home from work at the auto shop, scarfed down a grilled cheese sandwich, then grabbed a beer and sank into his gaming chair for his nightly routine of playing in OASIS for a few hours before bed. He loved spending time in a virtual world after work every night. It was great stress relief, it made it possible for him to go on adventures that he could never afford in real life, but mostly, he didn’t have scars. His avatar, B1GDAWG, looked like him in every other way, tall and broad, long black hair, grey eyes, but no scars. All his life he had wondered what it would be like to walk around and not have people stare in horror. OASIS gave him that opportunity. He could walk virtual downtown streets, hang out in a virtual bar, or dance at a virtual club and nobody feared him or recoiled in shock upon seeing his face. It was the only time in his life that he felt normal.

 

He hadn’t met her in a bar or a dance club, though. A few months ago there had been an announcement that for one day only, all fish caught in OASIS would be worth double the coins. As he had expected, all of the popular beaches, lakes and rivers were packed. Fortunately for him, he spent a lot of time walking around in the forests and knew that just a couple of miles from the largest lake in OASIS there was a small stream packed with “Morrow Trout.” Named after Ogden Morrow, of course. On a normal day, one Morrow Trout was worth five hundred coins, but on that special day they would be worth a thousand. If he could catch twenty or so, that would give him enough coins to acquire a few specialty in-game items he’d had his eye on for a while. Smiling at finding nobody at his secret spot, he got started.

 

He was reeling in his fifteenth trout when there was a disturbance around him. There was a slight rustling sound and he could see something coming through the trees. At first he thought it might be a troll or an ogre, an easy extra thousand coins, he thought. To his surprise and delight, it wasn’t either of those. It was SCARL3TT. She was another player, and her avatar had silvery white skin and long flowing red hair. Her eyes were so blue they were almost glowing. The tiny shorts and halter top she was wearing weren't bad, either.

 

“Hi, I’m SCARL3TT. What are you doing in my fishing spot?”

 

“Uh. Um. I’m B1GDAWG. I’ve known about this place for some time. Think we could share it?”

 

She had somehow managed to make her avatar look annoyed. “Fine.”

 

They stood there in silence, fishing side by side, until she noticed he was much quicker at reeling in fish than she was.

 

“Hey, you’re reeling them in really fast. I have an idea. What if I pay for a super lure? If you do all the reeling, we’d get more fish, and we can split the coins down the middle after. Deal?”

 

He pretended to be considering it, but who was he kidding, there was no way he would turn her down. “Deal.”

 

So they sat there for several hours more, talking and fishing. They spoke of their real life occupations, favorite locations in OASIS, funniest encounters they’ve had, and also the most dangerous ones. Eventually Sandor got an alarm on his screen notifying him that he needed to get ready for work. He had been so wrapped up in conversation with her that he hadn’t slept! He didn’t mind it, though. It was the best conversation he’d had in his entire life. Something about her made him feel at ease. But what if he never ran into her again? He couldn’t let that happen.

 

“I have to go, I’ve got work in an hour. But this has been fun. Care to go fishing again tomorrow, same time, right here?”

 

She nodded in agreement, and it was a date. That was how it all started, the two of them met every day at the little hidden stream, sitting and talking about anything and everything. It was about three months in when Sandor had finally mustered up enough courage to ask her what he had been wanting to ask her for months.

 

“You know, this is my favorite part of the day. Sitting here with you, doing nothing. You think maybe someday we could sit together and do nothing in real life?”

 

She was silent for a long time after that, but there wasn’t a log off notice, so he knew she was still there. He was about to say goodnight and leave out of embarrassment when she finally responded.

 

“There’s the annual equipment expo at the convention center this weekend. Maybe we could meet there.”

 

Sandor forgot to mute his headset when he let out a celebratory, “Yesssssss!” He didn’t realize it until SCARL3TT began to giggle.

 

“Uh, I mean, sounds good. Meet you there Saturday at noon.”

 

They had agreed to wear specific pieces of clothing so that they could recognize one another easily. He told her he was really tall and that he’d be wearing a black leather jacket, she said she really did have long red hair and that she’d wear a blue sundress. They planned to meet at the bus stop right in front of the building.

 

It was now 12:08 and she still wasn’t there. What if she wasn’t coming? What if she had come, saw his face, and left? His face. It was his biggest fear about meeting her. As far as she knew, he was “normal” looking. She flirted with him quite a bit when they would hang around one another in OASIS...but what if she found him unattractive in real life? Just as he was trying to push the thought from his mind, the bus opened its doors and he could see a few people getting up from their seats. It was hard to tell because of the tinted windows, but he thought he saw a flash of red hair. It was moving closer to the door, until finally a woman in a blue dress stepped out onto the sidewalk. It was her. And she was beautiful. He suddenly felt sick to his stomach.


	2. Chapter 2

As Sansa stepped down onto the curb, she smoothed the skirt of her dress and tried not to think about how nervous she was. If she couldn’t get a handle on her emotions, she was going to puke. It had been a couple of years since she had meet someone online and then agreed to meet them in real life. Sometimes it went well, but most of the time it had been disastrous. There was the guy that turned out to be a young teenage boy, the guy that was married, and the guy that was thirty years older than what he had told her and lived in his parents' basement.  She didn’t look one hundred percent like her avatar, either, which made her nervous any time she had agreed to meet someone. Yes, her hair was red, and yes, she had pale skin and blue eyes. But her avatar was a bit more...shapely. Her body in real life had been flat as an ironing board for as long as she could remember. There were no curves, just straight lines. The day she set up her avatar for OASIS, she decided that she was going to give herself the body she had always wanted. A pair of huge breasts, flared out hips, and a bubble butt later, she was satisfied.

 

She had told herself she would never take the chance at meeting someone again, and then she met B1GDAWG. There was something different about him. He seemed so genuine, and he had a great sense of humor. But what if he was disappointed when he saw her? And what if he wasn’t the man she thought he was? She would find out soon. Satisfied with how her skirt looked, she lifted her head to take a look around and their eyes met immediately.

 

He was big, just like in the game, and he had the long black hair and dark eyes, but there was something on his face. A birthmark maybe? Whatever it was, she stopped noticing it the second he smiled at her. Yes, he was smiling. So far, so good.

 

Sandor couldn’t believe his luck. The moment she stepped onto the curb, he felt relief. She was perfect. Everything about her was perfect. She looked up and noticed him, finally. This was the moment. Was she going to turn around and get back on the bus? To his surprise, she smiled at him and began to come closer.

 

“Sandor, right?”

 

“And you must be Sansa. Wow, you look just like your avatar.”

 

“Really? Thanks. You do, too!”

 

Sandor couldn’t tell if she was being truthful or just being polite, but either way, he didn’t care. A beautiful woman had agreed to spend a few hours in his company, and he was going to make the most of it. He extended an elbow to her. “Shall we?”

 

She hooked her arm into his, and they began the walk into the building. Conversation was so easy with the two of them. It was as if it were just a normal day and they were fishing together in OASIS, except this was real life. They were two real people, on a REAL date. They walked by each of the booths, checking out all of the new equipment that manufacturers had to offer. There were jackets with temperature control so that you could climb Everest in the game and actually feel the cold. There were pain gloves that allowed you to feel if you were stung by a bee or burned by a fire. Why anybody would actually want to feel pain when they didn’t have to was a mystery to both of them, but it gave them something to laugh about.

 

After a short break for milkshakes, chocolate for him and strawberry for her, they went back to making the rounds throughout the building. It was about thirty minutes before closing when they came upon a booth that was selling sensory masks. The masks were made of black, breathable material. It was similar to a ski mask but without the holes for the eyes and mouth. At Sansa’s urging, Sandor tried one on. He was suddenly in a replica of OASIS, standing on a beach. He could actually feel the heat of the sun and a warm breeze that danced across his face. There was even a scent of salty sea air. He was looking down at his feet when another avatar suddenly appeared next to him. It was Sansa, except she was in the sample avatar which had tan skin and blonde hair. She giggled for a second, then came closer. When she cupped a hand to his cheek, he could actually feel the warmth of her fingers and a slight pulsing sensation. She raised herself onto her toes and pressed her lips to his. The warmth and slight pressure on his mouth was expected, but the tingle throughout the rest of his body was not. He became increasingly aware that only the feelings on his head were from the mask, everything else was him. She giggled again and then disappeared. Sandor removed the mask and saw that Sansa was standing in front of him, a mask in her hand, and a slight blush in her cheeks.

 

He couldn’t remember the last time a girl had kissed him, and then suddenly, he could. It had been a game at a classmate’s birthday party in high school. He was waiting in the closet and a girl was sent in to make out with him. After a few minutes, someone reached in and turned the light on. The girl instantly had a disgusted look on her face, shouted “Ew, I got scarface!”, and ran out. He never went to a party again after that. Being kissed by Sansa was different, though. She knew what he looked like, so she was kissing him because she wanted to, and that made all the difference in the world. But it hadn’t exactly been a real kiss, just a virtual one.

 

They were arm in arm again as they headed toward the exit. The expo was shutting down for the day, so it was time to leave. Sandor offered to walk Sansa back to the bus stop, and she accepted. He was trying to think of a way to say goodbye without seeming like an overeager idiot. Just as her bus pulled up to the curb, he decided he would keep it to a simple, “This was fun” and leave it at that.

 

Sansa smiled and nodded in agreement. She took one step toward him, then another, and another, until they were directly in front of each other. She placed a hand on the back of his neck and urged his head down toward hers, placing a soft kiss on his lips. Then another, and another, and ending with a peck on his scarred cheek.

 

“See you tomorrow.” She hopped up onto the steps of the bus, and just like that, she was gone. Sandor didn’t know if she meant “see you” in real life or in OASIS, but it didn’t matter, he would accept time with her any way that he could have it.


End file.
